Mediodorsal thalamus is required for discrete phases of goal-directed behavior in macaques

Wicker, Evan; Turchi, Janita; Málková, Ludiše; Forcelli, Patrick A.

doi:10.7554/elife.37325

Cited by 23 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Burst activity in the thalamus can amplify and facilitate transmission to cortex (e.g., [46]), and integrity of MD was critical for accuracy and precision of predictive saccades in behaving monkeys [45,47]. In addition, the MD selects actions based on evaluation of rewards [48], which may be transmitted from the amygdala along the pathway described here.…”

Section: Why Is the Amygdala Like A Motor Structure?mentioning

confidence: 90%

Organization of primate amygdalar–thalamic pathways for emotions

et al. 2020

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Studies on the thalamus have mostly focused on sensory relay nuclei, but the organization of pathways associated with emotions is not well understood. We addressed this issue by testing the hypothesis that the primate amygdala acts, in part, like a sensory structure for the affective import of stimuli and conveys this information to the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus, magnocellular part (MDmc). We found that primate sensory cortices innervate amygdalar sites that project to the MDmc, which projects to the orbitofrontal cortex. As in sensory thalamic systems, large amygdalar terminals innervated excitatory relay and inhibitory neurons in the MDmc that facilitate faithful transmission to the cortex. The amygdala, however, uniquely innervated a few MDmc neurons by surrounding and isolating large segments of their proximal dendrites, as revealed by three-dimensional high-resolution reconstruction. Physiologic studies have shown that large axon terminals are found in pathways issued from motor systems that innervate other brain centers to help distinguish self-initiated from other movements. By analogy, the amygdalar pathway to the MDmc may convey signals forwarded to the orbitofrontal cortex to monitor and update the status of the environment in processes deranged in schizophrenia, resulting in attribution of thoughts and actions to external sources.

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Section: Why Is the Amygdala Like A Motor Structure?mentioning

confidence: 90%

Organization of primate amygdalar–thalamic pathways for emotions

et al. 2020

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“…MD is needed for goal-directed action in devaluation tasks where multiple responses to earn reinforcers have been trained [15,16,28,29] (but see [31]), but not where only one response to earn reinforcers has been trained [29]. However, there is a discrepancy between the rodent and macaque literature in the time-course of this involvement.…”

Section: Inactivation Of Bla and MD Limited To Operant Acquisition Phase Impairs Devaluationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In nonhuman primates, basolateral amygdala (BLA) [8][9][10], orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) [8,[11][12][13][14] and mediodorsal thalamus (MD) [15,16] are required for devaluation tasks. BLA lesions/inactivations also impair goal-directed action in most devaluation tasks in rodents [17][18][19][20][21][22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pre-training inactivation of basolateral amygdala and mediodorsal thalamus, but not orbitofrontal cortex or prelimbic cortex, impairs devaluation in a multiple-response/multiple-reinforcer cued operant task

Fisher

Pajser

Pickens

2020

Behavioural Brain Research

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Reinforcer devaluation is a task often used to model flexible goal-directed behavior. Here, we inactivated basolateral amygdala (BLA), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), mediodorsal thalamus (MD.) (Exp. 1) and prelimbic cortex (PL) (Exp. 3) in rats during multiple-response/multiple-reinforcer operant training with levers available to earn reinforcers during cued trials. After two training days with each lever-food relationship, a reinforcer was devalued through selective satiety and devaluation was assessed in a choice test with the brain areas non-inactivated. The control (PBS) and OFC and PL inactivation groups exhibited a devaluation effect, but the BLA or MD groups did not. Since the OFC is proposed to be required in devaluation tasks when a discrete cue signals an outcome and PL is proposed to be required when responses based on lever spatial-location guide behavior, we ran new rats through a cue-switching experiment (Exp. 2) to determine the strategy rats use to complete our task (attending to the discrete light cue or spatial lever location). Both groups (cue switched and cue normal) showed a devaluation effect based on the lever spatial location, suggesting that rats rely on the spatial lever location to guide behavior. Future studies will determine whether OFC and PL can compensate for each other to show intact devaluation when the functioning of one of them is impaired.

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“…A common feature of these experimental situations is that animals must track changes in task demands and update their current frame of reference accordingly to maintain successful performance. The MD also appears to be particularly important when successful performance requires the update of action-outcome or stimulus-outcome associations, as shown in rodents (Corbit et al, 2003; Ostlund and Balleine, 2008; Bradfield et al, 2013a; Parnaudeau et al, 2015; Alcaraz et al, 2016b, 2018) and also in primates (Mitchell et al, 2007; Izquierdo and Murray, 2010; Browning et al, 2015; Chakraborty et al, 2016; Wicker et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

The Cognitive Thalamus as a Gateway to Mental Representations

2018

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Historically, the thalamus has been viewed as little more than a relay, simply transferring information to key players of the cast, the cortex and hippocampus, without providing any unique functional contribution. In recent years, evidence from multiple laboratories researching different thalamic nuclei has contradicted this idea of the thalamus as a passive structure. Dated models of thalamic functions are being pushed aside, revealing a greater and far more complex contribution of the thalamus for cognition. In this Viewpoints article, we show how recent data support novel views of thalamic functions that emphasize integrative roles in cognition, ranging from learning and memory to flexible adaption. We propose that these apparently separate cognitive functions may indeed be supported by a more general role in shaping mental representations. Several features of thalamocortical circuits are consistent with this suggested role, and we highlight how divergent and convergent thalamocortical and corticothalamic pathways may complement each other to support these functions. Furthermore, the role of the thalamus for subcortical integration is highlighted as a key mechanism for maintaining and updating representations. Finally, we discuss future areas of research and stress the importance of incorporating new experimental findings into existing knowledge to continue developing thalamic models. The presence of thalamic pathology in a number of neurological conditions reinforces the need to better understand the role of this region in cognition.

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Mediodorsal thalamus is required for discrete phases of goal-directed behavior in macaques

Cited by 23 publications

References 29 publications

Organization of primate amygdalar–thalamic pathways for emotions

Organization of primate amygdalar–thalamic pathways for emotions

Pre-training inactivation of basolateral amygdala and mediodorsal thalamus, but not orbitofrontal cortex or prelimbic cortex, impairs devaluation in a multiple-response/multiple-reinforcer cued operant task

The Cognitive Thalamus as a Gateway to Mental Representations

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